Lloyd Kahn is the editor-in-chiefof Shelter Publications, an independent California publisher.Shelter Publications specializes in books on buildingand architecture,as well as health and fitness.Lloyds latest book is Tiny Homes on the Move: Wheels and Water.For more info, see: www.shelterpub.comLloyd Kahn is the editor-in-chief of Shelter Publications, an independent California publisher. Shelter Publications specializes in books on building and architecture, as well as health and fitness. Lloyd’s latest book is Builders of the Pacific Coast. For more info, see: www.shelterpub.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lloydkahn

"The Stasha is the World's lightest nesting dinghy weighing in at about 10 kilos (22lbs) making it child's play to launch and retrieve. The Stasha is an elegant design and is a delight to row and great fun to sail. Despite it's light construction it is surprisingly strong.
The Stasha is made of two halves with a simple locking mechanism allowing it to be easily assembled on deck, on shore or even in the water. As it's made from so few materials it doesn't cost much to build."
These little boats (4 designs) have Dacron skin. Click here.

I was poking around on the blog Root Simple -- Low Tech Home Tech the other day and came across a post titled "Saturday Linkages: I’m tired of doom, let’s garden and make things…" It was a great bunch of links, including these two inventions in Africa (apparently the helicopter hasn't really made any substantial flights yet, but, hey…).
Happy and useful links on a happy and useful blog. Click here.

“My partner and I were traveling a lot and wanted to figure out a way to create a home space that we could take with us as we explored different places and communities,” Maret told Gizmag. “Small spaces and simple living have been an interest of mine for a long time. I love treehouses, boats, and all sorts of other small spaces. So having the opportunity to try my hand at designing and building my own tiny house was very exciting to me.”
Passionate about sustainability, Maret hand-built the home using primarily salvaged and raw materials. The home features a trailer base, frame and a colorful rustic exterior made from local and up-cycled hardwoods. Creating a tiny home also meant that fewer materials were needed, which resulted in less waste. “Trying to find 2,000 square feet [185 sq m] worth of reclaimed or salvaged flooring for example would be difficult and/or very expensive,” said Maret. “But finding 100 square feet [9.3 sq m] is relatively simple. There are many more sources and options for low or no-impact materials at this scale.”From Gizmag, lots of photos, click here.

I gather too much "content." Photos and hastily scribbled notes. What to do with it all? Here are some bits and pieces from my latest trip:New York City

iPhones: most of the people I hung out with were doing everything on their iPhones. Calendar, directions, mail. I upped my data plan and am starting to use it more. One thing I'm working on is talking into the phone and having it come out as text. Rather than using MacSpeech Dictate (with headset speaker) as I do on my MacPro in the office, I open up the mail program on the phone, open "new message," hit the microphone icon at lower left, talk into phone and then email it to myself and voila! words into text.Subway I'm now riding the subway all over. I get a $20 metro card. Watched a big rat run down the tracks in one station. There's no graffiti on the subway trains these days.Rum drinks at Caracas Restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn: "Dark & Stormy" with dark rum, ginger beer, sugar cane syrup; the "Morning After Mardi Gras": rum, coffee, hot milk, vanilla, sugar cane syrup. Good rums: Pampero Anniversario, ZacapaNYC Bike Program You see racks of the blue bikes everywhere. This is a big deal. Aimed at cutting down cars. You pay an annual fee, pick bike up, drop it off at destination.

"Vipukirves™ is an efficient tool for chopping firewood, possessing many advantages, such as speed and work safety, over traditional axes and small hydraulic log splitters. Vipukirves™ separates sections from the log using a
unique lever action that allows logs with branches to be split into firewood in
seconds.
The splitting force of Vipukirves™ is considerably stronger than with a traditional axe.
Strike and loosen! Vipukirves™ has an ingenious design. Upon striking the log, it automatically turns to the right and detaches the chopped portion from the log. Vipukirves™ functions like a conventional axe with the exception that the user must loosen his/her the grip on the handle when the blade strikes the log. Chopped sections are removed with a single strike and the blade doesn't become lodged in the log, but keeps it in the same place and ready for the next strike."http://vipukirves.fi/english/From Evan Kahn

"Old-timers remember Malvina Reynolds's satiric song, 'Little Boxes.' Penned in 1962, the song heralded the coming suburban blight, where poorly constructed houses "were made of ticky-tacky and they all looked the same."
How times change. Today, scarce resources and staggering home costs have created a new definition of the "little box" - the Tiny House. And Mendocino College is at the forefront of the movement.
This summer, the college's Sustainable Technology program is offering a summer course on Construction Fundamentals and Green Building. The course, taught by Mendocino County native and PhD. Jen Riddell will attempt to build a Tiny House in 15 days…
Another interesting fact, according to Riddell, is that currently there are no codes that govern the construction of houses on wheels. "Right now, they fall into the category of an RV, so no permits are currently necessary," she explains. That doesn't mean that students will be learning sub-standard construction methods, however. "Our Residential Electric class will be doing all the electrical installation," Walker explains. "It's building as you go. It's very nice not having to go to the county if you decide to make a design change mid-stream," he continues.…"From Ukiah Daily News, click here.

Tons of material to report, will try to filter some of it out this week. Went for my first paddle in 6 months Saturday. Injured shoulder still recovering, but it's a start. Beautiful evenIng, warm weather, warm water, I looked down and saw this crab, jumped off board and grabbed it (have learned how to do this from the fishermen). Had nothing to put him in, so took off my hat, stuffed crab inside, and tied it onto the board's water bottle carrier with a piece of ice plant vine. Had him for appetizer last night.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Urban Homestead in Southern California":This isn’t in North America, but still, quite an accomplishment.Click here."The Sunshine Coast does have something going for it though – a strong Permaculture community: The Permaculture Noosa group in particular. Rosina has been a member of the group for only eight years, but despite that, her little urban homestead is a great, positive, living example of the work of the individuals that make up the group’s ranks. Her little yard boasts a profusion of edible and/or ornamental plants that all together create a veritable garden of eden in the midst of suburbia. Rosina has managed to transform her property from a bland, generic cookie-cutter type yard into something that’s not only entirely practical, but also highly aesthetic.